Dracula's home is beautiful, and apparently, also quite easy to reach.

Chucking through the mountains of Romania sounds like something of an adventure. The scenery certainly doesn’t leave anything to be desired, which is why a duo known as “neat.graphics” recently trekked into the Romanian winter with a BMW X6 and some camera gear for a bit of filming.

Update:

Specifically, the pair (also known as Stanly & Katya) made the journey in an X6 M50d xDrive. That’s going to be the European-spec model with a 3.0-liter diesel wielding three turbochargers, making 381 horsepower and 545 pound-feet of mountain-conquering torque. In a press release, BMW talked about the trials that the team and the X6 would face – two weeks and 1,550 miles of Romanian wilderness with high-altitude passes and stops at 10 locations, among them being Dracula’s Bran Castle on the border between Transylvania and Wallachia.

“The greatest challenge we faced during our trip was the weather,” said Stanly in the press release. “Specifically mountain hairpin turns covered with snow and ice. The BMW X 6 M50d is not only an epic presence in the film, but also got us to remote locations uncompromisingly and helped realize our project on time. Regardless of the extreme winter conditions and rough state of the mountain roads, we always managed to reach our destination.”

BMW would have us believe the X6 was a crusader in the wilds of Romania, foraging a trail over snow-capped peaks. We’ll admit the X6 is surprisingly capable in off-road situations, provided its pavement-spec rubber is swapped for something a bit more aggressive. With all the BMW-supplied pomp and circumstance in the announcement for this video, we were expecting to see some impressive X6 action mixed with legendary on-location cinematography. Instead, we get almost two minutes of properly beautiful Romanian scenery with 25 seconds devoted to the X6 driving over – wait for it – predominantly smooth pavement or plowed roads.

The video is worth it for the landscapes alone. But if you want to see an X6 conquering more than clear roads, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

BMW X6 in Romania

BMW X6 conquers the remote frozen mountains of Romania in search of the perfect video shoot

Extreme winter conditions, snow-covered mountain roads, remote castles and a BMW X6 - the ingredients for a spectacular short film about the wild, snow covered, Romania.

Bucharest/ Munich. The toughest days of the Romanian winter this year: over 50 cm of snow in only 24 hours and temperatures of -20 °C and below. These were also some of the most spectacular moments for filming. The Stanislav Cociorva and Ecaterina Cernei creative couple, known as “neat.graphics” or simply Stanly & Katya, tackled these challenges, exploring the unique frozen landscapes of the Romanian mountains. The hero of the project was the BMW X6 M50d xDrive. It faced down the extreme winter conditions and snow covered mountain roads taking the team to the perfect shooting locations. The result is a stunning short movie about the wild, snow covered mountains of Romania.

“As we already had acquired experience filming Romania in the summer, we were tempted to make another movie in winter. Using the knowledge we had gained during our previous trips we chose locations which offered a rich diversity of natural landscapes and cultural landmarks”, explained Katya.

The project was filmed in 10 locations, and extended over 2 weeks covering a distance of 2500 km. It included high-altitude mountain roads winding their way up to 2000 m. Among them, the famous and wild “Transfăgărăşan” which Jeremy Clarkson called “the most beautiful road in the world”, now almost completely covered in snow. The remote mountain castles also feature spectacularly in the film. The (in)famous Dracula Castle, Bran, probably received the most elaborate shoot.

“The greatest challenge we faced during our trip was the weather. Specifically mountain hairpin turns covered with snow and ice. The BMW X 6 M50d is not only an epic presence in the film, but also got us to remote locations uncompromisingly and helped realise our project on time. Regardless of the extreme winter conditions and rough state of the mountain roads, we always managed to reach our destination”, continues Stanly.

The final result of the project, the short film “Frozen Romania”, can be seen here: https://vimeo.com/206027365

About the BMW X6 M50d.

Since its launch, the BMW X6 M50d has been the most powerful three litre diesel in its segment. It delivers a maximum output of 280 kW/381 hp and a peak torque of 740 Newton metres. The key here is an innovative turbocharging system; two relatively small turbochargers and one large turbo dovetail precisely to deliver the amount of power required. The low moment of inertia of the small turbochargers is exploited to the full to deliver razor-sharp responses. The link-up with the large turbo is maximised to generate as much charge pressure as possible – just as the driving situation demands.

The BMW X6 M50d accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.2 seconds and boasts impressive power reserves for sporty mid-range sprints, even at higher speeds. At the same time, the average fuel consumption of the BMW M Performance Automobile has been reduced by 14 per cent and now stands at just 6.6 litres per 100 kilometres (42.8 mpg imp). CO2 emissions come in at 174 grams per kilometre. The BMW X6 M50d thus displays a genuine commitment to delivering impressive efficiency at this extremely high level of performance.